Cordish Cos. to team up with Jacksonville Jaguars on stadium neighborhood

Prominent Baltimore development firm The Cordish Companies has been tapped to help develop a planned $2.5 billion mixed-use district around the NFL stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced Thursday that Cordish will partner with the team and Iguana Investments, a company controlled by Shad Khan, owner of the Jaguars, to build what is being touted as a “new neighborhood” on parking lots between the stadium and the St. Johns River.

The multi-building development will feature more than 4 million square feet of offices, hotels and residences, as well as retail, dining and entertainment space, the Jaguars announced.

The Jacksonville project will be the latest in a string of stadium-related developed for Cordish. It’s involved in similar developments outside ballparks and sports arenas in Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Kansas City; Philadelphia; and St. Louis.

Cordish also owns Power Plant Live in Baltimore and the Maryland Live casino at the Arundel Mills malls, and is involved in other casino and commercial real estate projects around the country. 

“The Cordish Companies understand the challenges and, therefore, the opportunities in reimagining downtown districts and entertainment complexes throughout the country...,” Khan said in a statement.  “We do not think we could have chosen a better partner.”

Cordish Vice President Blake Cordish said in a statement that it was an “honor” to be chosen for the project. He said the project will create thousands of new jobs, bring millions of new visitors and help in “the revitalization of downtown Jacksonville.”

Environmental regulators need to sign off on any development plan, according to a report in The Florida-Times Union. The newspaper reported that the land slated for development was used previously by shipyards and tank farms, and certain areas of it contain petroleum-contaminated soil beneath the pavement.

View the article online here.